Electronic Ignitor

[George L.]

Hello everyone,

I was thinking of a circuit with a 555 IC that could ignite a fuse, fireworks or something of that sort... about 30 sec. after a button is pressed(enough time to get to safety and get everything set up.)

The 555 IC part is easy, but what I need is something that will ignite(like a match) when electricity runs through it. Preferably something I can make. If anyone knows of such a thing please help, Fourth of July is coming soon :lol: :lol: .

thanks,

George

 

[DirtyLude]

I don't know about home made, but there are ignitors used for model rocket engines that do this. I'm sure you can buy them at a hobby shop.

 

[DigiTan]

Ha Haaaa! George, you ol' son-of-a-gun, I was thinking the same thing!

Well, in my neck of the woods I can go to the Hobby Lobby and buy a pack of 6 model rocket ignitors for about $6.25. Some rocketry webpages recommend a 12 Volt ignitor and a sustained 6-16 Amps for good ignition. A lead-acid or RC hobby battery should have no trouble doing this and you'll just need a simple relay or power-MOSFET for switching. Otherwise, if you're using household batteries--you'll have to use a capacitor discharge bank (configured for your ignitor's "cold" resistance), but this is not as reliable.

Anyway, I used a battery to fire a test dart for my air taser project and it worked okay. What power sources do you have available?

 

[stevez]

I'd urge you to consider the possibility of an unintended triggering of the timer or it's output. Some electronic devices can behave unpredictably for various reasons. I would not rely on that timer to give you time to get to a safe position. Use it once everything and everyone is safe.

 

[Someone Electro]

An 1/8W resistor can be an ignitor. (I tryed to conect an 10 Ohm to the 5V rail of an PC PSU)

Or meaby some realy thin wire wraped around an match head so it heats up an ignits it.

 

[mstechca]

This is to all you canadians:

HAPPY CANADA DAY

ok, now I answer the question.

I think the simplest explosion you could make is as follows:

Make an astable multivibrator (it can be done with a 555 timer), and connect 2 LED's to it, one representing each state of the multivibrator (on and off).

Now replace the LED that lit second with a relay. This relay will be connected to a working very high voltage battery.

Now as soon as you turn the circuit on, the circuit waits for a certain amount of time, then it will turn the relay on, and close the other end, creating a SHORT CIRCUIT in the high voltage end. and what does this mean? maybe a gigantic fire, or a LOUD POP!

 

[chemelec]

Considering the 555 can supply 200 ma, A short piece of Nichrome wire would get hot enough. So would a Small light bulb filament, with the glass carefully broken away.

Or you could get more current drive by adding a mosfet if you wanted to.

Definately Cheaper than those:

6 model rocket ignitors for about $6.25.

 

[Oznog]

It's called an "electronic match" in the fireworks world, there are many sources on the web for making them at home. A piece of nichrome wire and a match head for one.

A set of alkaline or much better still NiMH/NiCd batteries will work. It will require a Darlington transistor or a MOSFET for a logic signal to drive the current.

The 555 is not a safe way of doing this. A microcontroller is much more reliable. I would put a key in a separate power rail going to the matches so you can check that the uC is working right before giving it ignition control.

 

[mstechca]

It's called an "electronic match" in the fireworks world, there are many sources on the web for making them at home. A piece of nichrome wire and a match head for one.

A set of alkaline or much better still NiMH/NiCd batteries will work. It will require a Darlington transistor or a MOSFET for a logic signal to drive the current.

The 555 is not a safe way of doing this. A microcontroller is much more reliable. I would put a key in a separate power rail going to the matches so you can check that the uC is working right before giving it ignition control.

Let's face it, if the whole point is to make a spectacular firework display, and the poster wants to blow up the chips, use the cheaper alternative, the 555. or transistors. A microcontroller costs a little more.

 

[Oznog]

Considering the 555 can supply 200 ma, A short piece of Nichrome wire would get hot enough. So would a Small light bulb filament, with the glass carefully broken away.

Or you could get more current drive by adding a mosfet if you wanted to.

Only certain Zetex 555s can drive 200mA, the garden variety is limited to only a few mA. And nichrome wire really needs more than an amp to get hot enough too.

 

[Emantra]

hope that this link might help u

https://www.electronics-lab.com/projects/automotive/008/index.html

 

[zevon8]

Steel wool, preferably #000 or very fine, connected to even a 9 volt battery makes a great igniter. Often used in flashpots, and similar.

You can even light a fire with suitable kindling like a cat-tail bloom ( swamp reed plant ) if you get stuck in the woods with no matches using this method. I still like the magnesium stick and flint though 8)

 

[DragonMaster0121]

Get a silicon diode, take a single match and hold the glass part of a single diode against the head. Bend the diode pins around the matchhead so that one wraps in an upward direction and then sticks out to the side. Do the same with the other wire, but in a downward direction. The diodes should now be hugging the matchhead, but its wires MUST NOT TOUCH EACH OTHER!

When you hook it across a 9 volt battery it reaches breakdown voltage, and lights the match head.

 

[Someone Electro]

I wod use hair thin wire (way cheaper)

 

[pber]

I've been using 1/4W 10ohm resistors as ignitors for years. Just wrap the fuse around the resistor and tape. Slap 12v across the resistor... works every time.

 

[newxhippy]

Hi,
Very new here, I have just purchasted some f5 efuses from fireworks.com with the understanding that all I would have to do is apply 12 volts to the leads and the fuse would ignite. However after alot of testing, I cannot get it to work with even 120 volts attaches to the leads. Any way I can make this work without buying the command center. I plan to fire the leads with either 12 or 24vdc through a PLC run from a computer. Any idea's?
Thanks,
Greg

 

[DirtyLude]

I don't have experience with those specificly, but it sounds like they are just broken. You shouldn't need to do anything crazy with them to light them. As long as you have the specified 12v and a good amount of current.

 

[Hero999]

What sort of power supply were you testing them with?

 

[newxhippy]

I am using a cage type power supply, I hook up a power cord w/120v to it and it has terminals for 24vdc output. I have tried shorting 24vdc over the leads with a fuse and still no go.

 

[pilot120]

If you use a 9.6 volt battery from a remote control car as your supply you should be able to just strip some wire, and lay 3 strands across the output leads from the 555. when you close the circuit, these wires should explode with a several loud "pops" and fat green sparks. I know that this works if you wrap the wires around a match. I have used it for igniting petrol vapours.